Vancouver is the only remaining city to operate buses powered by overhead wires. These "trolleybuses" are a huge part of Vancouver's history--they were implemented starting in the late 1940s to replace the region's vast network of streetcars as part of a "rails to rubber" system conversion.
"On August 16, 1948, Vancouverites rode their new trolleybuses to work, to stores, parks and movies for the first time," explains the Transit Museum Society of B.C.
70 years later, we are one of six North American cities still running trolleybuses.
Bus 2416 (Transit Museum Society of B.C.)
While your commute might involve a modern trolleybus, the Transit Museum Society has in their fleet some vintage buses, including #2416, a Canadian Car/Brill T48A built in 1954. This particular bus was one of the last built by the company, and it ran on the streets and via the trolley wires of Vancouver until 1984.
To mark 70 years of trolleybuses, the Transit Museum Society of B.C. is offering "fan" tours (meaning recreational) via a set of six daytime and nighttime rides through the city on bus #2416.
The tours are each four hours long, starting at the Marpole Loop.
- Saturday, August 11 - 7 pm
- Sunday, August 12 - 11 am
- Sunday, August 19 - 11 am AND 7 pm
- Saturday, September 15 - 7 pm
- Sunday, September 16 - 11 am
Tickets are $25 per adult and $15 per child. Families can pay for two children but bring up to four on board for the same price. The price is definitely more than a ride on today's TransLink, but that's because it goes to support the work of the Transit Museum Society of B.C. Book your tickets online here.
Related:
- You can ride back in time on a historic Vancouver Interurban streetcar (PHOTOS)
- Remembering the last ride on Vancouver’s Oak St. streetcar line, 1952
- This unique $3.75M estate for sale was once a substation powering Vancouver’s interurban streetcars (PHOTOS)
